May be because we wanted to distinguish divisare from the web that is condemned to a sort of vertical communication, always with the newest architecture at the top of the page, as the "cover story," "the focus."

Content that was destined, just like the oh-so-new architecture that had just preceded it a few hours earlier, to rapidly slide down, day after day, lower and lower, in a vertical plunge towards the scrapheap of page 2.

So we began to build divisare not vertically, but horizontally.

Our model was the bookcase, on whose shelves we have gathered and continue to collect hundreds and hundreds of publications by theme. Every Collection in our Atlas tells a particular story, conveys a specific viewpoint from which to observe the last 20 years of contemporary architecture. A long, patient job of cataloguing, done by hand: image after image, project after project, post after post. Behind all this there is the certainty that we can do better than the fast, distracted web we know today, where the prevailing business model is: "you make money only if you manage to distract your readers from the contents of your own site." With divisare we want to offer the possibility, instead, of perceiving content without distractions. No "click me," "tweet me, "share me,” "like me." No advertising. banners, pop—ups or other distracting noise.

Exercise I

The Nahua community of Tepetzintan, located in the Northeastern Sierra of Puebla, had two seemingly isolated problems. On the one hand, there was a lack of housing appropriate to the site, the climate and the customs and traditions of the region. In parallel, untapped bamboo which was considered a hindrance to plant milpa and coffee plantations, so it was removed from the plots without any use, how could we connect these challenges?
From our visits and dialogues with the community, we propose a housing project that will use the two existing bamboo species in the region to design and build, in a participatory way, a housing exercise. The project started with the knowledge of the customs and traditions of the families, the understanding of the site, the construction systems used and the way of occupying the territory, being a fundamental part of the research process carried out with the inhabitants using survey files.

Once we had a clear diagnosis, we designed a home that would fit the needs of the residents, respecting the main spaces of the traditional dwelling: salon, altar, kitchen, portico, bedrooms and bathroom. The project consisted in consolidating fundamental spaces such as the bathroom, the rooms and the kitchen, as well as in integrating low-cost ecological technologies for the collection, storage and treatment of water. In addition, basic bioclimatic principles were integrated to make the home comfortable (cross ventilation, interior height, hot air exhaust chimneys) throughout the year.
Because the project is governed by "Social Production", it was of great importance to train the community with the appropriate constructive technique for the use of bamboo, which ensured three main objectives: transfer of knowledge, constructive quality and capacity of Replicate the project. A total of five technical workshops were conducted covering all stages of bamboo management, from forestry to the construction of structures.
The construction system used is prefabricated on site and modular, which allows to make efficient the time in work and to manage the materials correctly. In addition, reducing the parts to a minimum allows them to be produced faster.
The construction was done through tasks (community work) in which, in addition to the adults,

the young people of the local baccalaureate who now train other groups of young people in the nearby communities. The land and bamboo was donated by the people, the stone was obtained from the ground and the lamina used in the roof is an ecological, thermal and acoustic product generated with recycled aluminum, which maintains an appropriate temperature inside the house and avoids The formation of fungi, bacteria and damp.
The project was inaugurated in 2015 with a party where the altar was installed and the effort of the settlers was celebrated. Since then, we have been working together with the community to use traditional building materials that allows to reduce costs, increase square meters and improve the quality of life in the region.

The new divisare books are small format pocket-book size, in limited editions of 200 copies, high-resolution digital printed, bound, with a hardcover, finished in fine English paper. Titles on the cover are silver foil hot stamped. We attach great importance to the tactile quality of the book as an object as well as, of course, its contents. Unlike the web that runs fast and vanishes faster, leaving no trace, Our books have the aim of lasting in time. The idea is simple: printed paper instead of pixels; we just want to invite you to get away from the screens of your devices for a moment, to sit back in a favorite armchair and enjoy a good read, in the old fashioned way.

Help us swim against the tide.

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Divisare is the result of an effort of selection and classification of contemporary architecture conducted for over twenty years. Patient work, done with care, image after image, project after project, to offer you the ideal tool with which to organize your knowledge of contemporary architecture. Instead of a quick, distracted web, we want a slow, attentive one. Instead of hastily perused information, we prefer knowledge calmly absorbed. This is why Divisare is a place to perceive architecture slowly, without distractions. No click — like — tweet — share, no advertising, banners, pop-ups. Just architecture, no more and no less. If you like what we’re doing, please Subscribe. You will get full access to divisare archive and you will help us keep the lights on.

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